Local faith group wants high-speed rail minority-jobs pact upheld

Wednesday

Dec 11, 2013 at 5:20 PMDec 11, 2013 at 10:36 PM

By John ReynoldsStaff Writer

Members of a local faith-based community group say city, county and state leaders aren’t living up to an agreement that promises jobs for women and minorities in connection with the high-speed rail project.

T. Ray McJunkins, president and co-founder of the Faith Coalition for the Common Good, said that $63.9 million has been allocated for the local section of the rail project, but so far, not a single penny has been set aside for jobs for women and minorities in Springfield. His concerns were included in a six-month report his group released at a news conference Wednesday.

“The report shows that, once again, nothing is being done,” McJunkins said. “Our next steps are to keep the decision-makers’ and stakeholders’ feet to the fire — to let them know there are eyes on you.”

Springfield Mayor Mike Houston and Sangamon County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter signed the community benefits agreement within the past two years. In addition to the job issue, it addresses safety and relocation assistance for people who will have to move when the 10th Street rail corridor is widened.

According to the report released Wednesday, the community benefits agreement calls upon city, state and local leaders to make an aggressive effort to meet specified job goals.

“Unless strategies change, there may be no new jobs for any minority members of the local community,” the report states.

Irma Wallace, a Faith Coalition member, noted that the east side of Springfield would be disproportionately affected by the rail project due to its proximity to the 10th Street rail corridor.

“The critical message we want to convey is that unless there are new and more genuine efforts to fulfill this agreement, the east-side minority community will again bear the negative consequences while the larger Springfield community receives the benefit,” Wallace said. “The community benefits agreement is designed to address the imbalance.”

McJunkins added that there is still time for the goals of the agreement to be reached.

“I realize this is the beginning of the project,” he said. “The main thing is that we stay ahead of the game. Decisions are being made now for 2015 to 2017.”

Van Meter said he shares the coalition’s concerns.

“The real problem is that these projects move very, very, very slowly,” Van Meter said. “At the moment, we are still in the engineering phase of the first construction project. I’m hopeful that we will have an announcement in the next two weeks aimed at addressing minority opportunities in the planning phase. I’m also confident that as we reach the construction phase, we will be able to respond in additional ways to the coalition’s legitimate concerns.”

According to a Nov. 27 letter from Houston, the city is managing the engineering work for the rail improvement project, and so far, about $1.4 million has been spent, with 86 percent of the work done by local firms.

“Two percent of expenditures to date have been made by disadvantaged business enterprises,” the letter says. “No new jobs have been created by the engineering funding as all work is being done by existing staff of the firms.”

The letter says the city is “committed to continuing our consultation with the Faith Coalition for the Common Good,” noting that the city, county and Hanson Professional Services Inc. are creating a “minority participation” program for the rail and other projects.

The Faith Coalition acknowledged the minority participation plan as a “significant symbolic gesture,” but added that more is needed.

Paris Ervin, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said IDOT anticipates that a portion of the work on Third Street will be competitively bid, but it’s too early in the process to determine how many jobs could be generated as a result.

“However, we plan to assign workforce goals on all projects let through the Illinois Department of Transportation to maximize inclusion,” Irvin said. “We will also continue to promote our Highway Construction Careers Training Program to improve access to transportation-related construction training and employment opportunities for minorities, women and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.”